WikiLeaks shot back with its own version of events in an effort to debunk Soames’ angry claims, after which the Sussex MP dished up a list of personal slurs against Assange.

When the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) published its ruling on February 5, Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond wrote off the panel of experts in international law as “laymen.”

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “Julian Assange has never been arbitrarily detained by the UK. The opinion of the UN Working Group ignores the facts and the well-recognized protections of the British legal system.

“He is, in fact, voluntarily avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorean embassy,” they claimed.